Where's it all gone???!

[Little Dolphins]

Feeling a bit down. Had private lesson; kind instructor, not 'yelly' and sharp like I remember them. Was assessed to be a novice, but able to get to intermediate in forseeable.
But I used to be an able rider, used to be able to jump, ride about with no saddle, deal with the dodgy equines....

Perhaps I dreamt it all.

Anyway, I have to be honest with myself. That was then and this is now.
I was young then and now I'm not, fit then and now I'm not, relaxed and confident then, and now I'm not!

I'll get there, I guess, but it has to be like starting again. Take my time, keep enjoying, don't stress. It's just the SHOCK of finding my body and brain at odds with the memory of how it used to be.

[The Flying Irishman]

Been there, got the t-shirt,video the lot! Don't stress, with age comes self preservation (aka less confidence). Give it time, it'll come back to you. ust keep enjoying

[raingodz]

I'll get there, I guess, but it has to be like starting again. Take my time, keep enjoying, don't stress. It's just the SHOCK of finding my body and brain at odds with the memory of how it used to be.
I have now had 10 lessons since returning after a 15 year break and you are right, it was abit of a shock! On my first lesson I was led round for the first five mins until they were sure I could stop!

Most of the time I am very pleased with my progress (just started cantering) but some days I just feel like I'm useless since I can not do what I was able to do before - although I'd be the first to admit I was never the best rider, but I am yet to get back to my teenage level!

So I think you just have almost take it from the beginning and enjoy yourself. I hope you keep up the lessons.

[Bay Mare]

Yep, I've been there too! I came back to riding after an 18 year break, the spirit was willing but the body had different ideas :D It didn't take long to get back into it again though, the thing that I found most difficult (and frustrating) was the canter transition.

There were two problems. 1) My new school was predominantly a dressage school so it was off the leg (or supposed to be) rather than kick, kick, kick, canter and 2) because I was coming back after so many years I was given the school plod who was a lazy beast and wasn't easy to get into canter.

When I improved I was then given a green 5 year old to ride who COULDN'T canter under saddle. As you can imagine my frustration just grew and grew, I was having difficult with the transition but for different reasons so were the horses. I went to Wrexham on a riding holiday in a make or break attempt to recover my former skills (3 hours a day for 5 days). First horse, good canter transition. Second horse, good canter transition. By the second day and 4th horse I *got* that it might not be completely my fault, got my confidence back and haven't looked back since :)

Anyway, enjoy your lessons and I'm sure that it will all come flooding back to you :D

[Little Dolphins]

SO many differing instructions! There was I reading up on Heather Moffat last night- OK- So! Remember not to do an 'Armchair' seat, definitely not that.

What happened today? Instructor said I should adopt this and this position, the Classical seat, "like an armchair".... I'm sure she didn't mean me to sit incorrectly, but had simply decided to use the wrong analogy. I was busy figuring this out rather than listening to my body and the horse!

Knees against/off, hands down/up, draping legs around like wet dishcloth/keep leg OFF sides, looser rein/ more contact , and so forth. I suppose it'll be better when I get used to the particular horse and instructor, having, over the past few years, had occasional rides in differing situations and on wildly differing mounts!

I guess you could call me Confused of Surrey! But feeling much more cheered by your posts, thanks! I WILL keep going.

[notpoodle]

hehe we were all young and daring once :D at least you were better once :D cant say that about me, i always only just scraped the 'intermediate' lessons :D

julia
x

[Clipperchuck]

...

[pedantic]

Yea put a load of old tyres in the menage and do some Pirelli training :rolleyes:

[neen]

I think when you have a history of riding, no matter how far in the past, your confidence issues can be different from those of a complete beginner.

Isn't it interesting how the safe-as-houses plod can sometimes just drain your confidence away? When I decided to take up riding again I opted to book a hack, as most of the riding I'd done in the past was of the hurtling-about-on-hairy-ponies variety. For safety's sake, I suppose, I was put on an enormous soppy sofa of a beast who trundled amiably and s-l-o-w-l-y around the woods with me -- and managed to make me feel tiny, old, weak, and completely ineffectual. I felt like a failure because I couldn't stir some life into this 16.1 cob (I'm 5'2'')

I've never been very comfortable riding in the school, so I don't know what made me then opt to book a lesson at a stables with no hacking at all. They put me on a super-moody, super-sensitive chestnut arab mare. You have to ride her as if she's made of glass -- hardly any leg, very gentle hands. The slightest movement from you and you feel an immediate reaction from her -- and (perhaps weirdly) *that's* what's brought my confidence back. I can feel that I'm making a difference, and I want it to be the right kind of difference. And she *makes* me relax, because if one of us wasn't relaxed, we'd probably be climbing the walls.

I still can't canter a circle to save my life, but we certainly have a laugh trying; I must say I don't recall there being many laughs in the riding lessons of my youth. I guess some things decline, and some things improve with age -- on the whole, I'm quite happy with the swap.

[Wobblydeb]

LOL....... yep, that all sounds really familiar :p

I have this memory in my head of happy hours spent pootling about bareback on my loan pony. Now I'm not convinced I didn't completely make it up. There's false memory syndrome right? :rolleyes:

(This is after me nearly falling off on Saturday doing sitting trot without stirrups:( )

[Bay Mare]

Isn't it interesting how the safe-as-houses plod can sometimes just drain your confidence away? When I decided to take up riding again I opted to book a hack, as most of the riding I'd done in the past was of the hurtling-about-on-hairy-ponies variety. For safety's sake, I suppose, I was put on an enormous soppy sofa of a beast who trundled amiably and s-l-o-w-l-y around the woods with me -- and managed to make me feel tiny, old, weak, and completely ineffectual. I felt like a failure because I couldn't stir some life into this 16.1 cob (I'm 5'2'')


I really never thought of it like that! You're right, the school plods drained my confidence more quickly than any other horse has done :eek: Well, except for the Saff Monster who went down to the field on her back legs the first time I took her there ... thankfully we got over that and I find her 'airs' more funny than frightening (touch wood, fingers crossed, rabbit's foot ....).

As a kid I was used to tearing around on showjumpers, jumping whatever was in front of me (bottle rather than technique kept me in one piece), bareback hacking in a bikini with no shoes (the BHS throws it's hand up in horror and tears it's hair out), oh, and at that point NO HAT :eek: unless I was jumping. I'm completely converted now though and am a hat wearing fascist, I get very angry when people think that it's ok to ride without a hat, even angrier when parents think that it's ok for their kids to ride without a hat!

I'd still like to be able to a) wear a bikini without making people puke and b) tear around bareback without falling off :D

[Yann]

even angrier when parents think that it's ok for their kids to ride without a hat!

Me too, it's a good thing you're not on the yard in the evenings lately then:mad:

[nicolaj]

Yep, know what you mean.

When I was 'taught' to ride, I do use that term in a very lose sense, things were so different. Was always told off for not having enough 'contact', never told the correct canter transition, it was just kick, kick kick and yes pull to stop and hope for the best somewhere in the middle!:rolleyes:

It was a great shock when I went back to lessons after about 10 years! What is all this about the seat, where you hands go, contact?! Blimey think I'd rather fly a plane, it must be simpler!!!;)

We have a very old lady cob on our yard, such a sweetie, but if anybody gets on who 'rides' she really doesn't like it! Likes to meander and do her own thing, and canter, what's that all about! If you put a complete beginner/novice on her they would probably begin to lose confidence because you do think 'oh it must be me, everybody else can do it!':(

Hubby began riding at the same time as my return, never ridden before had loads of confidence, why? After a few lessons, he got to ride a georgeous dark bay mare who was a bit spooky and needed confidence and riding, but handled her so well!! Makes you sick!!;)

Keep going Little Dolphins, you will get there and maybe soon ask about changing to another horse, that might help. Sometimes you just don't click with one horse!

[*Sez*]

My step-mum is just coming back into riding after a long break. She rode as a teenager until she had a nasty fall and now, some fifteen years later, has decided that she'd better get on Jake and learn to ride again :) . She's really enjoying it, although it took me weeks to convince her that no, she isn't too heavy for him (that was her excuse for not getting into the saddle) and now she's having a lesson once a week on him. She said it was a complete shock starting to ride him as, a) he's totally different from riding school horses, and b)she feels so worried about keeping her balance that she finds it impossible to steer or use her legs. But I'm sure it'll all come flooding back to her once she's gotten a bit more used to it.